Search - Adam Freeland :: On Tour

King of the new-school breakbeats, Adam Freeland returns with On Tour, a misleading title for an album assembled in Freeland's U.K. studio, with audience applause tacked on. Not surprisingly, given Freeland's ear for a good track, this studio trickery doesn't hinder the disc's moving or grooving. Though On Tour begins with bubbling burners by Fluke, KC Flight vs. Funky Junction, and Cause for Concern, it doesn't really get interesting until Pressure Drop's hit "Warrior Sound." From there the music gets looser and the sounds freakier, as with the black-hearted bump of Exile's "Neuroscan," Quinn Whalley's dubbed-out "Hold Tight," and Ils's "6 Space," which drops a rolling beat that cries out for a breakdancer. Freeland slowly spins the mix deeper, as if descending a long tunnel. Bushwacka!'s "Monster" provides some light with its feel-good rhythm, and Uberzone's "Rhythm Device" is equally bouncy with wild cowboys-and-Indians cries and sci-fi missile zingers. The freakiness continues with the Nuremberg rally vibe of Sound Worker's "Fraunenliebe," which is eerily beatless, segueing into Forme's frigid "Percussive Thinking" and Bushwacka!'s rumbling "The Egyptian." Throughout, Freeland conjures spooky sounds atop his clinking beats, as if creating the final dance mix for a nuclear winter. --Ken Micallef